May 1, 2019 OGDENSBURG – Bishop Terry R. LaValley Is pleased to announce the following assignments, which were made at the April 24 meeting of the Committee on Assignments. Please pray for the priests, deacons and parishioners of the involved parishes. Effective April 19: Effective May 1: Father Thomas E. Kornmeyer, V.F, pastor of St. Mary’s of the Fort Church in Fort Covington, St. Joseph’s Church in Bombay, The Catholic Community of Burke and Chateaugay and The Catholic Community of Constable, Westville and Trout River, remains canonical pastor and takes on the duties of sacramental minister. In addition, Father Kornmeyer remains the Dean of the Franklin Deanery. The Living Stones Planning Document for the Diocese of Ogdensburg envisions the use of Pastoral Life Coordinators as the means for providing a strong pastoral presence in parishes configurations where a resident pastor might not be available. Pastoral life coordinators are distinct from pastoral associates. Pastoral life coordinators report to the Bishop as do pastors a, whereas pastoral associates are part of a single or multi-parish structure and report directly to the pastor. While the job description may vary from place to place, typically the pastoral life coordinator will arrange and prepare various liturgical celebrations; assist the sacramental minister, who may or may not be the canonical pastor, in celebrating sacraments and other liturgical ceremonies; coordinate details surrounding funerals and cemeteries; provide leadership for faith formation, including sacramental preparation and youth ministry programs; implement diocesan programs; visit the homebound, hospitals and nursing homes, and arrange for a priest to visit when needed; take responsibility for evangelization efforts; undertake all parish business and personnel activity; provide parish social activities; preside over finance councils and pastoral councils; and facilitate other advisory groups and committees. Effective June 1: Effective June 26: Father Steven M. Murray, currently pastor of Church of the Holy Family in Watertown, is appointed pastor of St. André Bessette Roman Catholic Parish in Malone. Father John M. Demo, now pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Dannemora and the Church of the Assumption in Redford is appointed pastor of Holy Family Church in Watertown. Father Scott R. Seymour, pastor of the Roman Catholic Community of St. Alexander and St. Joseph in Morrisonville and St. James Church in Cadyville will additionally become pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Dannemora and the Church of the Assumption in Redford. This linkage is part of the Living Stones Planning Process. Father Patrick A. Ratigan, currently pastor of St. Bernard’s Church in Saranac Lake, is retiring and will assist with weekend and short-term coverage needs. Father Martin E. Cline, pastor of St. Cecilia’s Church in Adams with its mission of Queen of Heaven Church in Henderson, is appointed pastor of St. Bernard’s Church in Saranac Lake. Father Robert L. Decker, now pastor of St. Paul’s Church in Black River and St. Rita’s Church in Deferiet will become pastor of St. Cecilia’s Church in Adams with its mission of Queen of Heaven Church in Henderson. Msgr. Robert H. Aucoin, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Evans Mills, with missions of St. Theresa of Avila in Theresa and St. Joseph’s Church in Philadelphia, will additionally become pastor of St. Paul’s Church in Black River and St. Rita’s Church in Deferiet. This linkage is part of the Living Stones Planning Process. Msgr. Aucoin will remain the Episcopal Vicar for Education and the New Evangelization. Father Todd E. Thibault, administrator of St. Edmund’s Church in Ellenburg Center and St. Bernard’s Church in LyonMountain is appointed pastor.
Fr. Mark Reilly A Syracuse native, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and entered LeMoyne College after graduating high school. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant upon graduation from LeMoyne and was on active duty from 1986 to 1992. Father Reilly’s first assignment was as parochial vicar in Saranac Lake. He later became spiritual director at Immaculate Heart Central School in Watertown. He has served as pastor in Evans Mills, Theresa and Philadelphia, as well as in Saranac Lake, with parishes at Lake Clear and Bloomingdale and mission in Gabriels. In 2005-06, he was called up for active duty as a navy chaplain to serve with the Marines in Iraq, and again was activated for service from August 2012 to August 2013 in Djibouti, Africa. He retired from the Navy Reserves in 2014.
Deacon Brian Dwyer Deacon Dwyer, along with his wife, Monique, and the couple’s five children, resides at St. Patrick’s Rectory in Chateaugay.
Father Thomas Kornmeyer Father Kornmeyer was first appointed pastor in Bombay, Fort Covington, Westville, Constable, Trout River, Burke and Chateaugay in July of 2015. Prior to that assignment, he has served as pastor of Saranac Lake, Lake Clear and Bloomingdale (including missions in Gabriels and Paul Smiths), Evans Mills, Philadelphia and Theresa, and Newcomb. He served as parochial vicar at St. Bernard’s in Saranac Lake, Sacred Heart in Massena and Notre Dame in Malone.
Deacon Jack Lukasiewicz Ordained in September 2009, he currently serves at Our Lady of Victory in Plattsburgh.
Father Joseph Giroux Prior to that assignment, he served as administrator and later pastor of St. Bartholomew’s Church in Old Forge and St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Inlet and Raquette Lake; as parochial vicar at Notre Dame Church in Malone, St. Bernard's in Saranac Lake; St. Peter’s in Lowville; Sacred Heart in Massena, and St. Mary’s Cathedral in Ogdensburg. While in Ogdensburg, he also served as part-time chaplain at the Ogdensburg Correctional Facility. Father Giroux also served as the first director of the diocesan Program for the Ongoing Formation of Newly Ordained Priests. He is a Plattsburgh native.
Father Steven Murray Prior to that, he served as pastor in Hammond and Rossie, Louisville and Madrid, and in Chaumont. He also served as a faculty member and spiritual director at Immaculate Heart Central School, and as an administrator at St. Patrick’s in Watertown. Father Murray is an Ogdensburg native.
Father John Demo A native of Brasher Falls, he was ordained in September 1988 by Bishop Brzana.
Father Scott Seymour Ordained in May of 1999 by Bishop Loverde, Father Seymour’s first assignment was as parochial vicar at Notre Dame in Malone. He later served as parochial vicar at St. Mary¹s Cathedral in Ogdensburg, and administrator and later pastor of St. Philip of Jesus Church in Willsboro and St. Joseph’s in Essex. Father Seymour has been active in ministry with the Catholic Daughters of America serving as a chaplain for local courts and is a past New York State chaplain.
Father Patrick Ratigan A native of Saranac Lake, he served in the U.S. Army from 1972 to 1975. He was ordained by Bishop Brzana in September of 1983 at St. Bernard’s Church, Saranac Lake. Father Ratigan served as a U.S. Army Chaplain from 1988-2005, including one year deployments to both Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. His military assignments included Fort McClellan, AL, Fort Bragg, NC, Fort Meade, MD, Fort Stewart, GA, Fort Hood, TX, Fort Shafter, HI, Fort Monmouth, NJ, Fort Campbell, KY, two one year assignments in South Korea, and a one year assignment in Egypt, as well as deployments to Haiti and throughout Central and South America.
Father Martin Cline A native of Winthrop, he was ordained by Bishop Robert J. Cunningham in June 2005.
Father Robert Decker He was previously pastor of St. Hubert’s Church in Star Lake with St. Michael’s Oratory in Fine and St. Anthony of Padua Oratory in Newton Falls; of St. Francis Solanus Church in Harrisville with St. Henry’s Oratory in Natural Bridge; and of St. Therese Church in Newcomb and St. Henry’s Church in Long Lake. He has served as parochial vicar at Holy Family Church in Watertown, St. Mary’s Church in Clayton, St. John’s Church in LaFargeville, Sacred Heart Church in Massena, and St. Agnes Church in Lake Placid. He served as administrator in Harrisville and Star Lake, later becoming pastor there. From 1998 to 2003, Father Decker served as a missionary for the Ogdensburg Peruvian Apostolate in Mollendo, Peru. Father Decker, a native of Hammond, was ordained by Bishop Brzana in May of 1983.
Msgr. Robert Aucoin He is also the Episcopal Vicar for Education and the New Evangelization. A Massachusetts native, Msgr. Aucoin was ordained in March of 1970 as a Missionary of the Sacred Heart in Rome. In 1973, he was incardinated as a priest of the Diocese of Ogdensburg. Msgr. Aucoin’s first pastoral assignment was as parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church in Watertown and as a teacher at Immaculate Heart Central School in Watertown. In 1975, he was appointed director of the Family Life Department and, in 1977, principal of IHC. He has also been a chaplain at Fort Drum, pastor in Evans Mills, administrator in Lake Placid and pastor of St. Patrick’s Church in Watertown. Msgr. Aucoin served as president of Mater Dei College from 1986 to 1988 until his assignment at St. Patrick’s, Watertown. In 1991, he moved back to Ogdensburg to serve as rector of St. Mary’s Cathedral and chancellor of the diocese. In the following year, he was named a monsignor and also served the diocese as Episcopal Vicar for Diocesan Services. In 1994, Msgr. Aucoin was named pastor in Madrid and, two years later, was named rector-president of Wadhams Hall Seminary-College, a position he held until the seminary closed in 2002. That year he was named Episcopal Vicar for Education and also served as director of the permanent deacon formation program from 2001 to 2013. During 2003, he served as administrator of Norwood. From October of 2003 until June 2006, he was pastor in Alexandria Bay and Redwood. He then served as principal at Seton Catholic, becoming pastor in Potsdam and Colton in 2010. Father Todd Thibault A Native of Colchester, Vt., he served as parochial vicar at St. Mary’s in Canton before becoming administrator of St. Edmund’s in Ellenburg Center and St. Bernard’s Church in Lyon Mountain in November of 2017.
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Father Reilly became pastor at St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s in Massena in 2014, taking on responsibilities as pastor of Sacred Heart and St. Lawrence in Massena in 2016. In July of 2018, the parishes officially merged as St. Peter’s Parish.
Ordained as a permanent deacon in 2009, Deacon Dwyer, a Chateaugay native, worked for over six years as Diocesan Director of Youth Ministry before moving into his current assignment in the spring of 2015. 
Born in Constableville and raised in Boonville, Father Kornmeyer graduated from Wadhams Hall Seminary College in 1980, entered the U.S. Army and served for four years, and later returned to seminary studies at St. John’s Seminary in Boston. He was ordained in May of 1990 by Bishop Stanislaus J. Brzana.
Deacon Lukasiewicz resides in Beekmantown. 
Ordained in August of 2000 by Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito, Father Giroux has been assigned to Malone since 2010. 
Ordained in September 1988 by Bishop Brzana, Father Murray has been pastor at Holy Family in Watertown since 2002. 
Father Demo has served as Pastor in Dannemora and Redford since October of 2013. Prior to that, he served as administrator in Willsboro and Essex. 
Father Seymour, a native of West Chazy, has served as pastor in Morrisonville and Treadwells Mill since 2010 and took on additional responsibilities as pastor in Cadyville in 2017.
Father Ratigan was appointed pastor in Saranac Lake, with parishes in Lake Clear and Bloomingdale and mission in Gabriels, in 2014. Prior to that, he served as pastor in Adams and Henderson, and Brasher Falls and North Lawrence. He has also served as associate pastor at St. Mary’s Cathedral, as parochial vicar of St. Alexander’s Church, Morrisonville, and at Sacred Heart Church, Massena.
Father Cline has served as pastor in Adams with its mission in Henderson since 2014. Prior to that, he served in Fort Covington and Bombay, first as administrator and then as pastor. That assignment also included St. Patrick’s Church in Hogansburg until the church closed in July of 2013. His first assignment was as parochial vicar at Malone Catholic Parishes.
Father Decker has served as pastor of St. Paul’s Church in Black River and St. Rita’s Church in Deferiet since 2013. 
Msgr. Aucoin became pastor of St. Mary’s in Evans Mills, along with the mission churches at St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia and St. Teresa’s in Theresa, in August 2018 after serving in that role at St. Anthony’s and St. Patrick’s in Watertown for three years. 
Father Thibault was ordained in October of 2016 by Bishop LaValley.